Monday, January 17, 2022
Northwest County Residents Organize to Combat Area Development
A group of Moral Township area residents met at the township fire station on Saturday to organize and discuss next steps for monitoring development in their area. Although dubbed the Northwest Shelby County Concerned Citizens Coalition, group members emphasized the informal nature of the gathering. “We’re just folks,” Lisa Wojihoski-Schaler, an attorney who owns a small farm outside of Fairland, said.
Other than a few stray comments from participants, Wojihoski-Schaler, who served as defacto emcee, steered clear of politics, focusing instead on improving communication with government entities regarding “the industrialization of northwest Shelby County.” She added she was “not against responsible development.”
There’s been plenty of development to discuss of late in the I-74/Pleasant View area near the Marion County line. Five Below, a value retailer for tweens, has invested $105 million in a one-million-square-foot facility that will employ 470. HIS Constructors is investing $5 million in a facility that will employ 50. Blue Star RediMix is investing $5 million in a facility that will employ 12. Browning Investments is investing $44 million in a 930,000-square-foot spec building. The area also includes 305 acres ready for development.
But Wayne Bley, who lives off CR 700 N near the interstate, complained about “the absence of transparency” and cited Public Access Counselor Luke Britt’s recent finding that Shelby County Commissioners violated the Open Door Law by holding a private conference call with local stakeholders and other public officials before the implementation of a mask mandate on a 2-1 vote last September. In a filed response, Commissioners noted the call was to hear updates on the pandemic and how it was affecting local health care, and that no action was taken. Nevertheless, Bley said the group needed to ensure “rigorous adherence to the Open Door Law” moving forward.
Several attendees agreed to cover different county and City of Shelbyville meetings and report back to the larger group on agenda items of interest.
“We need soldiers on the ground,” Wojihoski-Schaler said.
Delegates were given the task of obtaining details on agenda items in advance of each meeting. Although unhappy with the general format of the agendas, committee members praised the Commissioners’ office - and executive assistant Diane Haehl - for providing details upon request.
Blake Newkirk exhorted group members to stay focused on the issues while using the group’s Facebook page. “We don’t allow bickering and nitpicking. We haven’t let it turn into an attack forum; it is a communications forum,” she said.
A “Political Cultural Committee'“ was also formed to create - in Wojihoski-Schaler’s words - “a proper vetting process of all the candidates.” Details obtained would include the candidates’ view of economic development positions and the voting records of incumbents.
The group is simply trying to figure out who “best represents northwest Shelby County’s best interest,” Wojihoski-Schaler said.
LOCAL HISTORY: IN OBSERVANCE OF MLK DAY
With the 15th Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote for all men recently ratified, Shelbyville’s Black citizens celebrated in April 1870 with a parade through town and a program at Blessing Hall on the second floor of 18 Public Square.
Over 100 years later, the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day was commemorated in 1986.
“King was one of the most controversial men of his time, but few would dispute that he was a great American,” The Shelbyville News editorial page said then. “Laws have been passed and court rulings made that outlaw discrimination in the workplace, in housing, in the voting booth, in places of public accommodation, in the schools.”
It was not an easy road locally. The passage of the 15th Amendment was an election day boon for Republicans, the party of Abraham Lincoln. Although several African-American families already resided in Shelby County, arguments ensued when approximately 25 former slaves from North Carolina attempted to disembark at the Shelbyville train depot in 1879.
“Many were prevented from getting off the train,” local historian Ron Hamilton wrote in 2000. “Some managed to leave the train, and the local Republican party officials tried to provide for them by actions of the common council. The Democrats, however, defeated the motion.”
But by the turn of the twentieth century, nearly 700 “colored males and females” were listed in the Shelby County census. By the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the political fortunes turned, with the Democratic party becoming more popular among Black voters.
Below are listed several notable Black citizens of Shelbyvile, curated from a local history document by Lucille Murray and Betty Randall. To be sure, there are countless others who could be included.
Rebecca Anderson, of Locust St., a native of Virginia, helped collect supplies during the Revolutionary Army.
Joe Hill, a Democrat in the 1860s, wrote a weekly column for the newspaper.
Dan Morgan was a barber in a room under the Ray House/Hotel Shelby. His wife, June, was a caterer. “She baked all the wedding cakes, made the Christmas and Thanksgiving fruit cakes, roasted the turkeys, and made the mincemeat for people far and near,” the document said.
Pious Simms was a former slave who lived with his wife near Norristown.
Robert Smith served in the Union army from 1865 to 1867. He died January 1, 1920.
In 1902, John Hodge was the first Black person from Shelbyville to attend Indiana University.
Grissom Lane is named for the three Grissom brothers who lived on the street. Chester Grissom operated a neighborhood grocery store.
James Reeves opened his tailor shop in 1920, which was later owned by Arnold Fykes.
Martha Stafford Crayton graduated from SHS in 1933 and was the first Black person enrolled in the National Honor Society at the school.
Kennedy Car Liner hired its first Black woman during World War II.
Bill Garrett was captain of the 1947 Shelbyville High School basketball team that won the state championship. Other Black players on the team were Emerson Johnson and Marshall Murray. Garrett played at Indiana University, where he graduated in 1951. The SHS gym was named after him in 1975.
Robert Cheatum was killed in the Korean War.
Cassius Bennett was elected to serve on the Shelbyville Common Council in 1971 and also was on the plan commission. Upon his death in 1984, an editorial in The Shelbyville News said, “‘Cash’ will be remembered for saying, ‘I always make my decisions on what beneficial effect they will have on the people, rather than any political effect they might have.’”
Doris B. Henry was the first Black R.N. hired at Major Hospital. She was employee of the year in 1984.
James Garrett Sr. was elected Justice of the Peace and then Addison Township Trustee. James Garrett Jr. now serves in the trustee’s office.
NOTEBOOK:
The Morristown Town Council last week discussed a $75,000 invoice to fund the installation of two basketball courts, goals and player benches in the current green space between the Gordon Ag Group and Long Branch Saloon buildings on E. Main Street. The contractor had sent the invoice to ensure the council would guarantee the funds. However, the Town has so far only secured $5,500 in grants, although additional grant applications have been submitted by community members. Morristown clerk-treasurer Don Roberts said there were several other upcoming expenses to be considered. “We still have a fire truck coming, that’s $100,000 we’ve got to come up with. We still got a police car coming, that’s $50,000,” he said. The Council opted to wait and possibly prioritize items to be included on the court before guaranteeing a total.
There will be no trash or recycling collection on today’s city route due to the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Monday's trash will be collected tomorrow along with the regular Tuesday route. Monday's recycling will be delayed until next week’s regular collection day.
HOOSIER NEWS: The Pence family rabbit, Marlon Bundo, died Saturday.
Mike Pence's daughter, Charlotte Pence Bond, took to Twitter to bid goodbye to their beloved family pet. Marlon Bunny was the first bunny to gain the nickname BOTUS, Bunny of the United States. Marlon also was the main character in a children's book, “Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of a Vice President.”
INTERNATIONAL NEWS: An Italian mafia boss who had been on the run for decades has been arrested in Spain after he was spotted on Google Maps. Gioacchino Gammino, 61, escaped a Rome prison in 2002 and was sentenced to life in jail the following year for murder. He was a member of a Sicilian mafia group known as Stidda and was one of Italy's most wanted gangsters. Sicilian police believed Gammino was in Spain, but it was the Google Maps photo of him talking to a man outside El Huerto de Manu, or Manu's Garden, that triggered an immediate investigation. (BBC)
This Week in Shelby County" works by George L. Stubbs Sr. are owned by the Shelby County Historical Society (Grover Center) and used with permission.
THIS DAY IN SHELBY COUNTY HISTORY
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
20 YEARS AGO: 2002
The restaurant formerly known as The Hamilton House, 132 W. Washington St., would reopen as Lady Victoria’s Hamilton House, the new operator said. The restaurant would operate under the direction of Gene Ellis, owner of Club D’Ville, located on East Locust Street. The Hamilton House was built in 1853. B.J. Fairchild-Newman owned the building and was leasing it to Ellis.
30 YEARS AGO: 1992
Roland Stine submitted a second petition to change the Shelbyville school board from appointed to elected. A first petition over a year prior had been deemed short of the necessary signatures. The school board would next have the opportunity to either reject or accept the plan. If the board rejected the plan, the matter could go on the ballot in the form of a referendum. Mark McNeely, city attorney, had worked with Stine to create a “flow chart” of events that must fall into place in time for a referendum to appear on the November ballot. Stine predicted 85 to 90 percent of city residents supported having an elected school board.
Max DeJonge, former president and part owner of Shelby Steel in Shelbyville, was named president of O’Neal Steel Inc., headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.
40 YEARS AGO: 1982
Sheriff’s Det. Rick Isgrigg, 33, the Democratic candidate for sheriff in 1978, declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Shelby County sheriff. Isgrigg had served as interim sheriff for six months in 1978, succeeding former Sheriff Norman Murnan. Isgrigg had been named “Deputy of the Year” by the Shelbyville Optimist Club and by Gov. Otis Bown for his work in crime prevention. Isgrigg was a 1967 Shelbyville High School graduate. He and his wife, Linda, had three children.
Dual wheels, still connected by a rim, flew off a semi truck traveling down I-74. The tires rolled across the road, jumped a fence, rolled in and out of a ditch and came to rest, still hot, in the front yard of Teresa Abrams, who lived on Frontage Road. According to Abrams, who saw the runaway tires heading her way, the truck driver just kept going.
50 YEARS AGO: 1972
Jim Landwerlen, 28, Tom DelliGatti, 25, and Lew Wilkinson, 30, were appointed emergency unit attendants by Mayor Jerry Higgins, bringing to six the number of attendants so that two men could go with the unit on every run. Jim Bogeman, who had served as an ambulance attendant for five years, was named chief attendant. The other two attendants were Lee Fisher and Joe Landwerlen.
60 YEARS AGO: 1962
The Triton High School freshman team won their division of the county tournament by defeating Morristown. Team members were Norman Lackey, Mike Wells, Pat Martin, Bobby Crafton, Ronnie Drake, Bob Rowe, Charles Kozderka, Ike Wells, Larry Rice, Alan Amick, David Weaver, Dennis Bennett, John Hilt and Mike Murnan. Donald Mendenhall was the coach. Nancy Buehling and Mary Jo Pfendler were cheerleaders.
Indiana Adjutant General John S. Anderson, former Shelbyville mayor, received a second star and was promoted to major general by the Governor. The promotion would need to be approved by Congress.
70 YEARS AGO: 1952
The J.L. Chase Company, 1300 S. Meridian St., makers of upholstered furniture for six years, announced plans to expand its plant by 10,000 square feet, on ground to the south of the plant. Chase had 95 employees, 15 of them women. The company manufactured chairs packed in paper bags made by the local Kennedy Car Liner and Bag Company. The building had previously belonged to Nukraft Mfg. Co.
Editor’s note: Mr. Jeff Wright found an old photo of the elusive gryphon in its original location. The gryphon was made in Shelby County and placed on a Ball State University building in 1952 before its removal, as reported yesterday. Source: Ball State University Digital Media Repository
80 YEARS AGO: 1942
After February 16, all men under 36 years old would be eligible to be drafted. The Shelby County Medical Society released a statement expressing concern that the “residents of Shelby County may be faced with a serious health problem if local physicians are called into the service.” Nine doctors in the county could be affected by the draft age extension, leaving 16 to take care of the county’s health, although not all of those 16 were actively practicing. Doctors up to 44 years of age might be called before the end of the year, federal officials said.
90 YEARS AGO: 1932
Police searched for the man who had assailed Otto “Happy” Cochran, well known locally as a collector of waste paper and junk. A man had beaten Cochran brutally and taken his umbrella, a fountain pen, hat and his glasses. Cochran had been found wandering about in a dazed condition at the intersection of Colescott and Elm Streets. The attack had occurred on S. Harrison St.
100 YEARS AGO: 1922
Shelbyville residents raised $2,000 for the American Jewish Relief Fund.
Local Big Four passenger train service would be discontinued on Sundays due to insufficient amount of passengers, company officials announced.
OBITUARIES
None today